1. Field of Disclosed Subject Matter
This disclosure relates to systems and methods for implementing intelligent variable speed operations in toner cleaning components, including an intermediate transfer element toner cleaning device, in an image forming device.
2. Related Art
The principles of operations in xerographic image forming devices are well known. Xerographic, and other toner-based, image marking units are generally used to transfer toner as the image marking medium onto an image receiving medium substrate in copiers, printers, facsimile machines and other like devices. FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic representation 100 of components that support a basic operation of a xerographic image-on-image toner-based transfer in an image forming device, including an intermediate transfer component.
As shown in FIG. 1, and as is generally understood in xerography, for example, a photoconductive transfer element may be presented in the form of photoconductor belt 110. The photoconductor belt 110 is mounted on, and driven by, a plurality of powered and follower photoconductor belt rollers 112,114. In operation, a photoconductive surface of the photoconductor belt 110 is exposed to light images emitted from a light source 120 as an imaging unit that optically exposes and selectively charges the photoconductive surface of the photoconductor belt 110 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive surface. The selectively-charged surface of the photoconductor belt 110 then passes a plurality of individual reservoirs 122-128, each supplying a different color of individually-charged toner particles. Multiple colors of charged toner particles from the plurality of individual reservoirs 122-128 are deposited onto the charged surface of the photoconductor belt 110. Each color of toner supplied from the individual reservoirs 122-128 has a charge, and will thus adhere to a particular area on the charged surface of the photoconductor belt 110 in a manner to correspondingly color the electrostatic latent image to form a multi-color toner image.
The multi-color toner image is then, in exemplary systems such as those shown in FIG. 1, transferred to an intermediate transfer element 130 at an intermediate transfer nip formed between the photoconductor belt 110 and the intermediate transfer element 130. As shown, the intermediate transfer element 130 may comprise an intermediate transfer belt, which like the photoconductor belt 110, may be mounted on, and driven by, a plurality of powered and follower intermediate transfer element rollers 132-138. Other configurations for the intermediate transfer element 13 are possible to include the intermediate transfer element 130 being in a form of a drum or a roller.
The toner image is then transferred from an intermediate transfer element 130 to an image receiving medium substrate at an image transfer nip formed between image transfer element 130 and a substrate carrying component 140 that itself rides along a series of substrate carrying component rollers 142-146.
The image transfer process is generally completed by passing the image receiving medium substrate, with the toner image formed thereon, to a fuser unit (not shown). The fuser unit is used to fuse and fix the toner image on the image receiving medium substrate through an application of heat and/or pressure in the fuser unit to the transferred toner image on image receiving medium substrate. The image receiving medium substrate, with the toner image fused and fixed thereon, is then passed to an image receiving medium substrate output collection area or tray where the user collects the finished, permanently imaged documents in the image forming device.
Between imaging operations, the photoconductive surface of the photoconductor belt 110 is refreshed by removing residual charge and toner from the photoconductive surface to make the photoconductor belt ready to repeat the process, e.g., ready to be charged, to receive toner0 and to transfer a toner image to an image receiving medium substrate.
In order to preserve image quality in the image forming device, residual toner must be cleaned and collecte from the various elements. The intermediate transfer element 130 is often subjected to a cleaning process using an intermediate transfer element toner cleaning device 150. Residual toner is removed from the intermediate transfer element 130 by the intermediate transfer element toner cleaning device 150 and is then transferred from a limited volume toner collection reservoir in the intermediate transfer element toner cleaning device 150, via a transfer passage 155, to a waste toner recovery receptacle 160.